"We need to get to the bottom of pharmaceutical pricing practices," Crist said. "If a violation has occurred, we will pursue and recoup these funds."

Florida's Medicaid program reimburses drug providers at wholesale prices as reported by the pharmaceutical companies.

The subpoenas are seeking information about whether the drug companies artificially inflated those prices in violation of the Florida False Claims Act, Crist said. They request promotional documents and public statements referring to drug prices, and rebate information related to the sale of pharmaceuticals.

Novartis spokesman Sheldon Jones and Ivax spokesman David Malina said their companies broke no laws and will cooperate with Crist.

On July 2, Mylan and Israel-based Teva, the world's biggest generic drugmaker, failed to win U.S. regulators' support for their bid to prevent makers of brand-name drugs from selling their products at discounts to undercut generic competition.